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#4 HCU 2, #6 Eastern Illinois 2 (HCU advances 6-5 on PKs)
Box Score | Live Video | Live Stats | Photo Gallery | Postgame: HCU
 

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#4 HCU 2, #6 EASTERN ILLINOIS 2 (HCU advances 6-5 on PKs)
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Houston Christian University won it's first-ever conference title, outlasting Eastern Illinois University in an epic eight-round penalty shootout to capture the 2026 Ohio Valley Conference championship on Saturday evening at Hunter Stadium. The 2-2 draw saw Harvey Heeps make three saves in the final four rounds to help HCU put to rest the ghosts of two straight championship match defeats and punch the Huskies first-ever ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
 
Eastern Illinois got on the board first, breaking the ice just over 13 minutes in. A lost ball near midfield by HCU got poked up the left has by Luiz Anchieta to Keidin Green. After a couple of nice touches, Green laced a left-footed shot across the face of a diving Harvey Heeps to give the Panthers the early lead.
 
HCU would level things up 10 moments later. Clarenns Sainrimat was brought down in the 18-yard box trying to make a move back to the center of the pitch, resulting in a penalty for the Huskies. Ryan Okerayi blasted his shot from the spot just under the crossbar, knotting things up at one-apiece.

The two teams would trade a few more punches before entering the half deadlocked. Sergej Misic put back-to-back shots on target within two minutes of each other just after the half-hour mark, both saved by Harvey Heeps. Marcos Moore would get a good look in the 38th minute but his shot was blocked out for a corner kick.
 
HCU had a chance to go up in the early moments of the second half when Jess Degenaers was taken down on a run towards goal. His penalty kick was parried away however by EIU's Pierre-Jean Dannenmuller, leaving things tied.
 
Adam Boykin then put together two chances just before the hour with the first missing just left of the post and a second out of a corner a header just two high of the goal.
 
Just seconds later, Ryan Okerayi was taken down in the box and awarded a penalty. He launched a shot down the middle to give HCU the lead right on the hour mark.

Each team put a couple of solid chances on target. Joao Peres put a shot on Heeps in the 71st, and just a moment later, shots for HCU's Marcos Moore and Degenaers were blocked and saved.
 
With 10 minutes remaining, Eastern Illinois found their equalizer. A corner was headed out to the other side, where again it was Keidin Green with a half-volley off his left foot to knot the score at two-apiece.
 
The game would head to overtime, the third straight OVC championship match to need extra time.
 
In the first extra period, the Huskies again got a pair of strong looks. Chris Grote had a go just 49 seconds in on the break, but his shot was knocked out by Dannenmuller. In the 98th minute, Jess Degenaers had a shot from just inside the right side of the box that was kick-saved by Dannenmuller and the two teams would move on to a second extra session.
 
The two teams would play safe in the second session, with neither team taking a shot and keeping it close to the vest. That would send the match into penalties, the second such for the Huskies in the tournament and second straight OVC title match to do so.
 
In the shootout, both teams made their first three before EIU jumped ahead 4-3 with a save and a make heading into the fifth round. Marcos Moore would cooly put his PK into the top corner and Harvey Heeps then made a game-saving stop on Joao Peres.
 
Knotted at 4 and heading to extra penalties, the Huskies missed their very next one, again putting pressure on Heeps to keep them alive. Again, Heeps was up to the task, saving a shot off the foot of two-goal scorer Green to keep things moving.
 
After another round of made penalties, it was Chris Grote who knocked home HCU's sixth shot of the shootout to give them the lead. And for the third time in the 12-yard war, it was Heeps, this time parrying away a shot from Sergej Misic to give HCU a 6-5 shootout victory and its first-ever conference title.

It was the third straight championship game for the Huskies that had gone to extra time, and second straight to end up in a penalty shootout. And on this night, it was finally HCU's turn to raise a trophy.
 
The championship tilt was a physical back-and-forth affair that saw each team fire off 17 shots, with 50 total fouls called and 12 cards, including one red, handed out.
 
HCU led in shots on target 10-7 and earned nine corners to seven for the Panthers.
 
Ryan Okerayi had both goals for the Huskies, giving him nine for the season to tie his single-season career-high set last year. He now has 30 on his career, one of just five players in school history to eclipse that milestone.
 
Jess Degenaers had four shots on goal and Ricardo Garcia added a couple as well.
 
Harvey Heeps made five saves that counted on the stat sheet, but none were bigger than the three made in the shootout. Heeps now has 73 saves on the season, ninth-best in a single-season in program history. He had 13 saves in the three tournament matches and was named the OVC Tournament Most Valuable Player for his efforts.
 
Keidin Green had both goals and Pierre-Jean Dannenmuller, who came on in the 14th minute, added six saves. The loss ends a fantastic run in the tournament and season for the Panthers, who finish 6-9-5 overall on the campaign.

HCU becomes the first lower-seeded team win the Ohio Valley Conference title. It is the first-ever conference title for the Huskies and the first-ever berth into the NCAA Tournament. Joining Heeps on the All-Tournament team were Ryan Okerayi, Marcus Moore and Hans Leza.


2026 ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Luke Neely, Lindenwood
Clement Baron, Lindenwood
Archie McDonnell, SIUE
Daniel Murray, SIUE
Andre Ecker, Eastern Illinois
Sergei Misic, Eastern Illinois
Keidin Green, Eastern Illinois
Marcos Moore, HCU
Ryan Okerayi, HCU
Hans Leza, HCU
Harvey Heeps, HCU (MVP)